1. Technical Field
This invention relates to vehicle article carriers, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier having a pair of side rails adapted to be secured to an outer body surface of a vehicle, where each end of each side rail is secured via a mounting support member to the outer body surface in a manner such that no fastening elements are visible at the areas where the outermost ends of each side rail are secured to their respective mounting support members.
2. Discussion
Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to support various articles above an outer body surface of the vehicle. Typically, such vehicle article carriers include at least one cross bar, and more typically a pair of cross bars, which are secured to a pair of parallel disposed side rails. The side rails are secured to the outer body surface so as to extend longitudinally along the outer body surface. Typically at least one cross bar is secured between the side rails for supporting variously sized articles thereon.
The outermost ends of each side rail are typically secured via one or more fastening elements to a mounting support which is in turn adapted to be fixedly secured to an outer body surface of the vehicle. The fastening elements are typically threaded fasteners such as threaded screws having a head portion which remains exposed to view after the installation of the side rails and mounting supports are completed.
While such fastening arrangements as described above are functionally adequate to secure the side rails to their respective support members, the visibility of portions of the fasteners nevertheless detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the overall vehicle article carrier.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which includes a means for securing a side rail thereof to a mounting support in such fashion that the means for securing is not visible once the side rail is fixedly secured to the mounting support.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which includes a means for securing a side rail thereof to a mounting support in a manner in which the securing means is not visible once the side rail and mounting support are secured together, and which further does not complicate the assembly process for the vehicle article carrier or require numerous additional component parts to be introduced to accomplish the securing of these two components.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which includes a means for securing an end of a side rail thereof to a support member without the securing means being visible after installation of the vehicle article carrier is complete, and which further does not add appreciably to the overall cost of the vehicle article carrier or increase its weight or increase the time required to install same on an outer body surface of a vehicle.